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Reviews For: hallicrafters SX-101

Category: Receivers: Amateur Radio

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Review Summary For : hallicrafters SX-101
Reviews: 18MSRP: 395.00
Description:
ham band reciever 160-10 meters
Product is not in production
More Info: http://
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00184.4
KB2FCV Rating: 2005-08-17
Great Receiver! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I've had my SX-101A for about 16 or 17 years. It was one of my first boatanchors. Together with the HT32A, they make a great team. Aside from replacing a few parts over the year, this radio has been dependable. Not bad for an almost 50 year old receiver! I most recently added the HT33A to go with the station.. I can't think of a better hallicrafters combination!
WB6NVH Rating: 2004-03-20
Nice Receiver Time Owned: more than 12 months.
There are a few differences between SX-101 and SX-101A. The SX-101 has 160 meters, the "A" does not.
The 10 meter band on the 101 is pretty "squirrely" to tune. The high IF of the SX-101 is at 1650 KHz, which is now within the AM broadcast band. On 160 meters, high power broadcasters on 1650 KHz will bleed through and ruin reception. I am planning on adding a trap in the 160 meter antenna coil circuit to notch that problem out. The selectivity options on the 101 are wonderful. In a crowded band, it will outperform almost anything. The receiver is stable, as others have mentioned, although there are many opportunities for instability such as dirty tube sockets, bandswitch wafers, etc. The 101 leaves the VFO tube filament lit at all times, for stability. I have found that for some reason this ruins the tube after about a year, but I don't know why ! Tests show the tubes wind up with intermittent or hard shorts between filament and cathode; I have gone through about 6 12BY7's because of this. If anyone else has comments on this, please share them ! Most SX-101's you find have chipped up or cracked main tuning knobs. You will need to change the paper capacitors to new mylar types. There was an article in QST a few years back on how to make a simple internal product detector for the SX-101.
The dial accuracy is a bit weak but you get used to it. Overall, the SX-101 is a great buy for the average hamfest price of $ 100-200.
KB0PGO Rating: 2004-02-14
An excellent boat anchor Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I have had recent expierence with the old SX-101 when It was given to me by the local ham club. I am the local radio repairman and it was an old boat anchor but I asked if I could have it and they said ok. I have been repair all the old rigs and we have been selling them to try to finance a new HF emergency station. After repairing it I was quite impressed with the stability and high quality of the sound. It was the best old radio I've ever heard. I should have done tests with my equipment to get its specifications but I turned it over to sell it for the club sale after I found out what it was worth. They still bring $250 to $300 and that'll go a long way tward a modern tranciever
WA0RJ Rating: 2003-01-03
Great Receiver! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
My SX101A is cosmetically very nice. It was part of my first novice station when I was licensed back in 1978. I went into the USAF and it sat in storage at my parent's until last week. I just had to get it back on the air and took it to have it checked out. Still in operating condition.

I love this old receiver. It is quite hot. Compares well with most modern rigs. I love the sound of this receiver. I intend to use it quite a bit. The scale is easy to read (for these old eyes) and it is stable with little drifting. Gives you AM, SSB, CW reception. Its features are quite impressive. The Hallicrafters manual (get a copy) is good. If you want a tube type receiver this is a good bet for your first one. They are fairly inexpensive and really get the job done.

Try it, you won't be sorry.

Yes they are heavy, but still managable.

If you buy one that has been sitting around for a long time DO NOT PLUG IT IN until you have it checked out. The old capacitors can be bad and could ruin your power transformer and other components. Some carbon resistors could be out of tolerance.
KC2IAF Rating: 2002-11-15
Excelent fieldeliy on am Time Owned: more than 12 months.
The SX-101A was my first glowing radio 2 years ago at the age of 12. I acquired it in not so great cosmetic shape, but in excellent electronic condition. After a long winter of polishing inside and out it was the most beautiful radio I had ever own. It's very easy to repair in my opinion because of how spread out the inner chassis is. I refuse to use any HF equipment that does not glow. I find it ironic that a 14-year-old kid in 2002 still has an SX-101A in mint operating condition.

The tube Is dead. Long live the tube!
Aaron Parsekian KC2IAF
JAMES_BENEDICT_EX_N8FVJ Rating: 2002-11-03
Good HF Tube Type Receiver Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have owned at least 30 tube type older receivers. The SX-101A is a good receiver. I could always find a frequency due to the large analog dial & built-in calibrator. Not many (non-digital readout) receivers have a dial capable of this- a real plus. The receiver is very stable and up on ten meters is also quite sensitive. The selectivity is good and the notch filter works well. Overall, a good receiver very capable of HF communications. Not all receivers from the 50s perform like this, a bargain on the used market.
W6PMR Rating: 2001-11-30
Good old radio. Time Owned: N.A.
I have the 101a and it keeps power to the heater
in the vfo tube so no,(or little), stability problems.
Great big and VERY heavy this baby is great to just look at AND it sounds/works as good as it looks.
Does not have 160 but does have 10mhz WWV. If you like old gear this one goes for between $150
for a working but beat one to about $400 for one in primo condition.
Pair it with an HT series transmitter and have fun !
W4IIV Rating: 2001-07-26
great gain and sound Time Owned: more than 12 months.
doing great and is part of my main station (along with an HT-32 transmitter) had a stability problem but a good cleaning fixes that.